Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Yup, as the title suggests the image you are seeing is that of my eye! In particular it is the retina of my left eye. To remind you, the retina is the back part of the eye which sits behind and is seen through the pupil. That yellow dot slightly off center is my macula.

I had my yearly eye exam last week. When I walked in the optometrist gave me a pamphlet describing a new machine / service called the optomap® Retinal Exam. It uses a laser to scan the eye and take pictures of the retina without the need for the eye drops. It costs about $30 and is not covered by insurance. I said I would do it under one condition: I need copies of the images!

So there you have it. Luckily it appears that my eyes are healthy. My doctor spent time showing me images of several abnormal ones. Below for example is what glaucoma looks like.

I got this from the website of the machine's manufacturer which includes a disease library that shows what several conditions look like.

According to the website it is also possible to get an amazing 3D views of your eye but unfortunately my doctor didn't show me mine. Here is one I found on the website:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I saw the movie 21 on Sunday. This of course is the Blackjack movie based on the best seller Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich.

Based on a true story it describes how several MIT students used a system to count cards and win millions in Las Vegas. Like every other book-turned-movie the book was much much better. It is quite an amazing read.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

My friend (thanks Cal) turned me on to a pretty funny British hidden camera show called Trigger Happy TV. Basically they do "strange stuff" in public which makes those who see it laugh, confused, or shocked. Here are a few clips I liked.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

I had dinner last night with a close friend who told me about a new project he is working on involving "telepresence".

Telepresense is next generation video conferencing that makes everyone participating feel like they are in the same room. Special conference rooms or "studios" provide an IMAX-like viewing experience where each user appears life sized and directly across the table from one another.

In AT&T stores it will be used as a means for users to access information about devices, rate plans and services. Microsoft's Surface has object recognition technology, so if a device is placed on the table, the surface displays information on that device. A user can even place multiple devices on the Surface side-by-side and the table will compare and contrast them.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

I stumbled upon McCainBlogette.com tonight. It is a blog by Meghan McCain, John McCain's 23 year old daughter, and her two friends Heather Brand and Shannon Bae as they hit the campaign trail with her father.

It provides a unique and refreshing behind the scenes look at his campaign and her journey with it. It is not particularly political in nature but instead feels more like a personal site (like facebook or myspace) that one of my girl friends might maintain if they were on some extraordinary trip.

Rather than political issues she focuses on the family and social side of the campaign. She writes about and posts images/videos of the interesting people she meets, places she goes, and events she attends. She recently posted images from a Blue Angels air show she attended and also a video that includes shots from a BBQ event held with the media.

I found the site quite endearing. In a time when political candidates and their families are so protected from us it is nice to get a view from a perspective other than the canned speeches, debates and campaign ads.

Salon.com wrote an article on Meghan's site back in Decemeber and the AP just wrote one last month.